To the statement - "While there are limits to the amount of information they can assimilate effectively, there is a virtually unlimited desire to have access to more information if it is affordable - I would add - if it is affordable "and is actionable knowledge"
Turning information into actionable knowledge means huge increases in processing power which means huge increases in transistors.
Of course, the algorithms for all this knowledge extraction is a different matter altogether.

We need a disruptive technology that can break the extreme capital intensive model. Until then, life under someone else's reference flow will be bad. Why stick around when the same skill can be applied to social media?